Esther and Mercy

Part 8

Kate, Esther, Max and Mercy are getting groceries. "Is there anything special you want me to make tonight? You have any favorites?"

"Can we have meatloaf? I like it with green bell pepper along with the onions."

"Sure Mercy. I've never heard of putting peppers in it, but I'm up for trying something new." Kate's phone rings, "Hello." 

"Well, how are you?" It's Sister Abigail on the other end. "Hi, we're great. We're doing good."

"How are they?"

"They're here, hold on."

"Hey, it's Sister Abigail. Do you wanna say hello?" Esther shakes her head. "Come on. Esther, just quickly say hi." 

"I said, no." Her tone conveys that this is her final word on the subject. "Mercy?"

"Sure." She takes the phone, "Hello Sister."

"Hello Mercy. How are you?"

"I'm doing well. Some bumps here and there."

"Ok, can you give the phone back to your mom?" She does so.

"You know what, why don't you get me a pepper and onion? And Esther, can you get five apples for me?" They go off to get the requested items. Little does Kate know that they're both eavesdropping.

"So what do you need?"

"I'm just calling to remind you that I'm gonna need their medical and dental charts for my supervision report."

"They're not thrilled about the doctor or dentist."

"How is everyone doing? Are they opening up to you? What "bumps" was Mercy talking about?"

"I guess you can say they're opening up. Esther dropped the F-bomb on me a few weeks ago."

"I guess she's finally coming out of her shell."

"Yeah."

"Anything else I should know of?"

"We had a big incident recently. It's a girl named Brenda at school. They were at the playground, there was a slide, well, she fell off. One of them may have pushed her down. I'm not getting the story straight, but she got hurt."

"Is she all right?"

"Luckily. She broke her ankle and had something like six stitches."

"That doesn't sound too lucky." 

"Well, she's lucky she didn't break her neck. Also, Mercy got into a scuffle at school. It was the same girl, Brenda. Apparently she was bullying Esther, so Mercy knocked her down."

"Hmm." Is all the nun can say. 

Esther is playing the piano. A complex piece even an adult would have trouble with. And she was playing flawlessly. "You told me you didn't know how to play."

"No, I didn't." 

"Yes, you did."

"You offered to teach me and I accepted."

"Okay. So then you were just pretending this whole time?"

"I thought you would enjoy teaching me. It must be frustrating for someone who loves music as much as you to have a son who isn't interested and a daughter who can't even hear." Mercy comes in at that moment. "Esther, how could you say such a thing?" Esther stops for a moment. "I guess that was a bit out of line. I'm sorry."

Mercy sits at the piano and notices what page the songbook is open to. "So you found out her little secret?"

"You knew?" Mercy looks at Kate like she had two heads. "Of course I knew. I'm just as good as she is. Maybe better." She'd heard Mercy play before, but nothing more complex than Au Clair de La Lune. "Prove it. Start from here." Kate puts her finger on a measure midway down the page. And Mercy played flawlessly. Her gloved fingers flew over the keys with expert level grace.